Maternity-shoe.



M. DEUTSCH.

MATERNITY SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-23,1915.-

I 1 ,172,770. Patented Feb.22,1916.

mum,

which I will point out in the appended UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mx nnirrson, on NEW YORK, 17. Y;

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, MAX DEu'rscH, a citizen .of the I United States of America, =residing at New York, borough and county of the Bronx, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Maternity-Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Ifhis invention relates to improvements in shoes, the object being to provide ashoe which will readily adapt itself to changes in dimensions of the ankle portion of the foot of the wearer, that is to say, should the ankles swell, or become larger, for any reason, the upper of the shoe will give or be made large enough to suit the enlarged ankles.

My improved shoe is especially designed to meet the gradual or sudden changes in the size of the ankles of a woman during pregnancy. It is a well known fact that a womans ankles will swell during the above mentioned period, but such swelling is not a constant quantity, but variable. Upon first rising in the morning, the ankles might be normal, :but in a few hours are apt to increase in size.

' My improved shoe is designed to meet the above conditions by being arranged or provided with a yieldable back member, which, at the same time, is adjustable.

To carry my invention into practice, I preferably provide the shoe with an adjustable securing means at the rear thereof, in combination with theusual lace or button securing means, commonly employed, at the front of the shoe, the securing means at the back of the shoe being preferably yield? able or elastic. My improved shoe is of course adapted for use for swollen ankles caused by kidney trouble or any other unnatural condition of the system, but is more especially intended for maternity purposes.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, the novel features of claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof. V

In the drawing a shoe is indicated by 1, having an upper 2 consisting of a plurality of separably connected sides or members 3 and 4, the said members being connected to- MATERNITY- SHOE. 7

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t d e, 22, 191 Application filed October 23, 1915.I Serial No. 57,409. V

gether for adjustment at the front of the upper by a lace 5. While I have 'illustrated the shoe 1 as a laced shoemy improvements are not limited lace shoes, but can be applied to button-shoes as well.

To carry my invention into practice, I provide the upper 2 with a slitted back portion, as shown at 6, the slitted portion being crossed by a lace 7 which is passed through eyes 8. Thelace 7 is preferably a single strand, secured at its lower end, in any desirable manner, to prevent it from being pulled, through the eyes 8. The free end of the lace 7 is passed throughieyes 9 preferably located near the upper edge of the inside member of the upper. The slit 6, at the rear of the upper, is covered by a tongue 10 for the same purpose that the. tongue at the front of the shoe (not shown) is provided. To render the securing medium, at the rear of the shoe, yieldable, I preferably make the lace 7 out of elastic material. Hence, the rear of the shoe is not only provided with a securing device, as well as the front thereof, but said rear securing means is yieldable.

When the shoes are applied to thefeet the will be secured thereto by the laces 5 an 7, front; and rear respectively, in the usual manner, that is to say, the upper members 3 and 4 will be drawn together as snugly as desirable against the ankles by said laces. After the rear lace has been drawn as tightly as 'desired, the free end 11 thereof, will be passed through. the supplemental eyes :9 and brought to the front and finall passed through the eye 12- and tied in a bow with the front lace 5. *This will prevent the making of bows or knots at the rear of the shoes, at which point they are more or less inacces'sible. Should the ankles swell, afterthe shoes are-on, the upper 2 will give way to the swelling, due to the provision of the elastic lace 7, thereby preventing any pain which would be caused by an upper which'is too small for the ankle. As

can be seen in Fig. 2, the lace 7 is passed V]. e a yielding fastener, but one which can be regulated to provide greater or less yieldability owing to the fact that by loosening or tightening this elastic cord, the degree of yieldability can be altered or adjusted.

Having now described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe having its quarters constructed and arranged to open at the front and rear of the shoe, means for securing the front edges of the quarters together, said upper being provided with openings adjacent the rear edges of the quarters and adjacent the top edge of the inside quarter, and a lace adapted to be laced through said openings at the rear of the upper for holding the rear edges of the quarters together and through said openings at the top edge of the inside quarter and to be engaged by the securing means for the front edges of the quarters.

2. A shoe having its quarters constructed and arranged to open at the front and rear of the shoe, said upper being provided with openings adjacent the front and rear edges of the quarters and adjacent the top edge of the inside quarter, a non-elastic lace adapted to be laced through the front openings for holding the front edges of the quarters together, and an elastic lace adapted to be laced through the rear openings for holding the rear edges of the quarters together and through the openings at the top edge of the inside quarter and .to be tied with said nonelastic lace at the front and top of the upper.

3. A shoe having its quarters constructed and arranged to open at the front and rear of the shoe, and means for securing the front edges of the quarters together, said quarters being provided with a series of openings adj acent the rear edges thereof and also with a series of openings arranged adjacent the top edge of one of said quarters, said last named openings being disposed substantially at a right angle to the openings at the rear of said quarters.

Signed at New York city, N. Y. this 22nd day of October, 1915.

MAX DEUTSCH.

Witnesses MAURICE BLooH, DAVID HERSHFIELD.

Gopies oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

